Rescued at Sea, Family Is Safe in San Diego

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Eric and Charlotte Kaufman — along with their daughters, Cora and Lyra — leaving a Navy warship in San Diego on Wednesday.CreditCreditUs Navy, via Reuters

By The Associated Press

April 9, 2014

SAN DIEGO — Six days after a family of four found themselves helpless and adrift in a sailboat far into the Pacific with a vomiting, feverish 1-year-old, a Navy warship delivered them safely on Wednesday to San Diego, where they had begun their attempted around-the world voyage before the child was born.

The Rebel Heart, the 36-foot sailboat that had been their home for seven years, is at the bottom of the ocean 900 miles off Mexico, sunk by rescuers because it was taking on water after losing its steering and most of its communications.

A satellite phone ping from the boat on Thursday set off a huge rescue effort that involved sky diving National Guard members, three federal agencies, a plane, a frigate and scores of personnel. It also prompted a serious debate over parenting, and the propriety of hitting the high seas with two young children.

The Navy warship, the U.S.S. Vandegrift, docked at Naval Air Station North Island with the Kaufman family safely aboard and the child recovering from her illness, said Lt. Lenaya Rotklein, a Navy spokeswoman.

In a photograph released by the Navy, the family looked like typical vacationers, with the father, Eric, dressed in shorts and a baseball cap while lugging bags, and his wife, Charlotte, walking behind him, holding the toddler in a strap-on carrier and grasping the hand of her 3-year-old daughter. The ship moved from the island to the San Diego mainland Wednesday afternoon without the Kaufmans, who wanted to tend to their 1-year-old daughter, Lyra, and get some rest before talking publicly, Charlotte Kaufman’s sister, Sariah English, said.

The Kaufmans’ decision to sail the world with Lyra and her sister, Cora, drew accusations of reckless foolishness from some observers and praise from others for their courageous spirit.

Ms. English said she did not question the decision of her sister’s family. She said that sailing was their passion. “Charlotte and Eric raise their children how they see fit,” Ms. English said. “They are very concerned about child safety. That’s their No. 1 concern, and they did not do this blindly. They are responsible, good parents.”

Four California Air National Guard members parachuted to the sailboat last Thursday and stabilized Lyra, who responded well to medication for salmonella-like symptoms. The warship arrived on Sunday. The baby previously had salmonella in Mexico, where the family had stopped their voyage for her birth. Her pediatrician assured them she was recovered and could travel, Ms. English said. Still, shortly into the trip, the child started showing symptoms and did not respond to antibiotics.

Critics of the Kaufmans called for the family to reimburse the government for the extensive rescue effort, but officials from the Navy, Coast Guard and California Air National Guard said Tuesday that they did not charge for search-and-rescue missions. Separately, friends of the Kaufmans set up a fund-raising site to raise $20,000 to cover the family’s expenses, which could include not only Lyra’s medical treatment but also the family’s future housing, given that the boat where they had been living sank. As of Wednesday night, more than $14,000 had been raised.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 13 of the New York edition with the headline: Rescued at Sea, Family Is Safe in San Diego. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe